


Breathe

by Sheilaprior



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Percy, Autistic Beau, Autistic Character, Doctor - Freeform, Gen, Honestly this takes place in the same world as Of Bruises and Brother, Hospital, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Matt is a therapist, Non Graphic but still, Non-Graphic Violence, Percy whump, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scanlan and Pike are nurses, Sedation, Torture, Tw medication, Vax and Pike drive the ambulance, Vex is a doctor, Vex is kinda meh about sex, Whump, asexual sex repulsed percy, autistic keyleth, autistic percy, torture mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-11-26 02:11:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18174467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheilaprior/pseuds/Sheilaprior
Summary: Percy is able to escape the hellhole that was once his home, and maybe finds a new home in the girl who found him, the EMTs who saved him, some band mates, and the woman who took care of him.Modern au of how percy met vox machina right after escaping ripley





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm currently working on this as I go along, this first chapter isn't done yet, but it will be soon

Percy tore blindly through the woods, getting as far away as he could from the place he once called home. The hot rush of shame had ended some time ago, once the pain had returned with consciousness, but the wounds, the lashings, the stabbing, the burns, the needles, they still stung as sharply as when Ripley had brought her weapons down on him.

Tears poured down his cheeks as he tried to keep himself from openly sobbing into the forest. Sobbing meant they’d find him, and he’d go back, alone, past Cassandra, back to Ripley; back to her punishments, and rewards.

He ran faster.

His eyes widened in shock and, maybe, just maybe, the smallest bit of hope entered his heart as he spotted a road, the sound of traffic covering the noise of his panting and his own heartbeat in his ears. He was out, he was really out of there.

And he was alone.

 His hysterical smile dropped in the sudden remembrance that even though he’d just got her back an hour or two ago, his sister was probably dead now, with the rest of his family. Not for the first time in the last twenty four hours, Percy let gravity get the best of him as he collapsed to the pavement, sobbing.

 He was so wrapped up in his own misery that he didn’t hear the approaching footsteps, or the slowly growing red puddle pooling under his side.

“Hey, hey are you okay, dude, holy shit!” He was just barely able to look up and see a head of fiery red hair, and a shocked, concerned expression. In the back of his mind, it was odd, the woman’s tone reminded him of Vesper. At the thought of his sister, he started sobbing again, as the image of bullets in Cassandra’s back resurfaced.

“Please, please, th-they killed her, they killed her, please, I-I, please, please, p-pay, I, all, a-all pay, they’ll pay.” He muttered these words to himself as the woman above him watched in horror.

“Oh god, okay, uh, I-I’m gonna try and stop the bleeding, okay, okay, I’m gonna call 911.” He didn’t hear her as he muttered.

Keyleth hummed anxiously as she made the call, stammering as she gave the details and the address, thankful for the operator’s calmer demeanour. First aid was not enough to deal with whatever the poor guy had gone through. But a large source of the blood was his stomach. She supposed that this was one hoodie going in the garbage.

 She balled up the fabric as soon as she hung up, gently pressing it to the man’s stomach. She winced at his pained moan. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, uh, you, you can’t fall asleep, that’s bad, right? Yeah, yeah, uh, that’s bad, uh, uh, I’m Keyleth, A-Ashari, what’s your name?”

The man’s eyes flickered towards her. “Pe-Perciv..Fred-” 

“Percy?” Keyleth interrupted. He gave a small nod as he curled in on himself.”Hey, no, uh, no, don’t do that, uh, how old are you, I’m 22.”

Percy blinked up at the girl, trying to figure out for the life of him why she was making small talk when his sister had just been murdered. 

_‘Manners, Percival, don’t make me say it again’_

“Twenty three, oh gods, pl-please, it hurts, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re gonna be okay, you, you don’t need to apologize, it’s fine.” Keyleth started to feel her own breathing speed up as she couldn’t think of what else to ask.

Thankfully, just at that moment, the familiar sound of an ambulance siren approached and Keyleth was thankful as her boyfriend and one of her best friends emerged. She didn’t think she could’ve handled this with strangers.

“Kiki!” Vax rushed forward with the stretcher as Pike rushed down towards Percy, getting an overview of her soon-to-be patient. She quickly overtook Keyleth’s position, holding the hoodie against Percy’s stomach, telling him that he was gonna be alright. “C’mon, help me get him up.” Keyleth helped her boyfriend get the stretcher down before gently wrapping her arms around Percy, helping him onto the stretcher.

Well, Vex was going to have a good time with this one, that’s for sure.

* * *

Vax was driving as fast as his training allowed him to. This guy was insane amounts of hurt, blood staining his hair pink. At least it looked pink from the rear view mirror, where he could see Pike furiously trying to calm him down.

“Stop! Stop it, please! I don’t know, I don’t know anything!” He thrashed on the stretcher, Keyleth struggling to keep it from moving under him. Vax would never admit it, but he’d nearly crashed when Pike had revealed that Keyleth was the one calling. He’d hate it if anything happened to her. Sometimes he hated his job, and right now was yet to be decided if this was one of those times.

Pike wrapped copious amounts of bandages on the young man’s stomach once she had him on oxygen. She hated breaking out the straps to hold him down, but if he thrashed around for much longer, he’d only injure himself further. It only seemed to distress him more as tears mixed with blood on his cheeks.

“It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay,” she tried to console him as she kept pressure on the wound, reminding herself to let Keyleth know how good she’d done until they got there.

The woman in question was trying her very best not to panic, but Percy was loud, and hurt, and very, very sticky. And not sticky like the way Scanlan was after the pride parade, no this was not a good kind of sticky. The siren wasn’t helping either. But, at least she knew that they were getting close, and Pike and Vax were good at their jobs, and so was Vex, so Percy would be okay.

Percy squinted against the bright lights as the ambulance sped on, his vision blurred by tears and blood. He was dying. He knew it, and he was sure the blonde woman above him knew it too. She looked somewhat angelic, the bright lights giving her a halo as she moved about.

He cried out as she put pressure back on his stomach, clenching and unclenching his fists wildly, trying to do something, anything, to stop this agony.

Vax almost smiled as the familiar view of the hospital came into view, but forced it down for the moment. “Pike, we’re almost there! Kiki, I’m gonna need you to stay on the gurney with him until we get inside. I promise, once the others can take him, you can get off, okay?”

Keyleth gulped nervously and got up on the gurney, relieving Pike from pressure duty. “O-Okay, I-I got this.” She kept her hands on the now red hoodie. It was yellow this morning. She tried to remember that this was her hoodie, that she was helping, she was doing something good right now, and tried not to focus on the cacophony of noise and stimuli around her.

Percy screamed out again as pressure was alleviated, then put on again harder. “I’m sorry, please, please, they killed her, they killed them all!” He struggled against the straps holding him down, unsure if the lights above him were the ones of the ambulance, or Ripley’s lab.

Pike slammed the doors open as soon as Vax pulled into the entrance, bringing down the gurney with her coworker as fast as she could. “COMING THROUGH PEOPLE, GOT A SERIOUSLY INJURED MAN HERE!” She watched as a few doctors rushed up, thankfully including Vex. “Vex, he’s got multiple lacerations, stab wound, Keyleth’s keeping pressure on it until someone else can, she found him near Gilmore’s shop.”

Keyleth chewed nervously on her lip as the gurney rolled into the ER. Good thoughts, good thoughts, drown out the noise. Think about Vex’s feather, or Vax’s beads. She saw Vex in her peripheral, and gave the woman a look, pleading for help.

Vex nodded and motioned for one of her interns to take her friend’s spot on the gurney. Vax quickly helped Keyleth down and held her as Vex and her team wheeled the man off to surgery. Keyleth trembled in his arms, looking down at her bloody hands and skirt. “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up. I don’t have to be out again until later.” She barely listened as he lead her to the bathrooms.

Vex looked down at the man below her. Not the worst she’d ever seen before, but pretty bad. He was still awake too. How that was possible, she didn’t know, but she had to try and use it. She slipped her fingers into his as they ran to the operating room. “Hey, sir, sir can you hear me?” She got a shaky nod and a face of fear. “I’m Dr. Vessar, you’re going to be okay, everything’s gonna be fine. I just need you to stay awake a little longer, can you do that for me?” She got another nod, a shaky sob escaping the man’s lips once more. “Can you tell me your name?”

 

“P.. P-Percy.”

 

“That’s a nice name.” Vex looked up, seeing the doors of the OR approaching. “Almost there, almost there.”

 

They finally managed to pull the gurney through the doors, and beside the table. Percy looked petrified for a second before he began to thrash once more on the gurney. “No, no, please, please, I don’t know anything, I don’t know!” He didn’t notice the sedative being injected until he stopped thrashing. “I.. I don’t..”

“You can sleep now Percy, you’re gonna be fine. Just rest,” Vex assured him, and for a moment, she could’ve sworn she saw him say ‘thank you.’ His eyes closed, and the patient mask went down. “Alright people, let’s make sure whitey doesn’t die on us.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still same thing as the last one, it's not completely done yet, not by a long shot, or at least until I say so

Percy’s head had been turned to cotton. Or at least it felt that way. His throat felt like uneven sandpaper (which was never good to use), and his eyelids felt heavier than rocks. He tried to speak, but only emitted a low groan.

Suddenly, a terrible thought came to him. What had happened? What had she done to him that he was stuck like this. He suddenly heard a very fast beeping. That was new, she never had him on a monitor of any kind.

“Percy, Percy, wake up, please, just wake up.”

At that voice, his eyes flew open, and his breath came out in ragged pants. He felt something in his throat, and he tried to reach up to get it out.

“No, no, don't take it out, i-it, Vex!”

He looked fervently around the room. Everything was blurry and bright, very different from Ripley’s lab.

Keyleth got up from the chair, her fidget cube discarded on it as she darted out the door, frantically looking for Vex. Thankfully, the woman in question was coming down the hall, and she walked faster at Keyleth’s insistence.

The redhead went back in, seeing Percy’s hands trembling as he tried to move to take out the tracheal tube. “No, no, no don't do that.”

Vex hurried in and put her hands on her patient’s.

“Hey, hey, Percy, Percy, you're okay, you're fine.” She put on her ‘dealing with a patient’ voice as she slowly sat down on the mattress.

Percy flinched at the sudden contact, moaning at the pain that seared through him.

“Wha...Where….. Who..” his eyes traveled a bit before landing on Vex, quickly flitting to Keyleth behind her before going back to the doctor. “Dr…. V-Vessar,” he remembered, his voice hoarse.

Vex nodded. “You remember then?”

Percy nodded. He relaxed as she removed her hands. He looked to the redhead behind the doctor.

“Th-Thank you..”

Keyleth fiddled with her sleeves, avoiding eye contact.

“Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're not dead,” she said.

Percy looked down at that, now registering the insane amount of bandages wrapping his torso. He felt heavy again. The edges of his vision went fuzzy.

“Take your time Percy, we'll be here.” The doctor's voice was the last thing he heard before returning to sleep

* * *

Percy woke up a few times after that, often to the same faces, some different ones, and always bright. He saw Keyleth asleep and fidgeting when awake. She found him, she called the ambulance, he remembered that. Sometimes there was the small woman, Pike, she'd looked like an angel, but one that could kick your ass. Two dark haired individuals had come through, once at the same time, he thought he'd been seeing double until the doctor's familiar voice made clear the difference. He'd seen a large shadow for a little bit before passing out to the muffled sound of a ukulele.

This time when he woke up, the tube was gone, replaced with a little white scruff. He looked around, clearing his throat in advance, in case speaking would be needed. Keyleth was out of the room, replaced by one of the dark haired people he'd seen before. This one was definitely not Vex though. In the back of his mind, he looked familiar.

“What happened to you, whitey?”

Percy looked over at the man. He was sitting on his phone, scrolling through something or other with one hand, and playing with what looked like beads in the other. He then saw the man look up.

Vax blinked as his eyes met Percy’s. Percy with no last name. Nobody had claimed him yet, and after a solid week, Vax doubted anyone would. Not that he'd ever tell Vex, or, gods forbid, Keyleth, that he thought so.

“You're not Dr. Vessar.”

He blinked as the man spoke.

“No... No I am not.” Vax put his phone away and got closer to the bed. “So, are you going to stay up this time?”

Percy painfully shuffled up the bed, thankful it was at an angle rather than straight down now, and shrugged.

“I think so, yes. Uh, I… Sorry to ask, who are you?”

Vax stuck out his hand. “Vax, nice to properly meet you, Percy.”

Percy carefully shook Vax’s hand. “How do-”

“Who do you think drove you here?”

Percy stopped at that and let go of his hand. Vax cocked his head to the side as he studied Percy’s eyes. They were unfocused, squinty.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, just doing my job.”

Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Do you sit with every patient you bring in?”

Vax shook his head and sat down with a chuckle. “No, I’m just taking over while Kiki’s at home. You must be pretty special or something, I don’t think I’ve seen her worry so much over someone she just met like that.”

“Hey shitbird, who are you-” Percy tensed a little as the clacking of heels on tile and the familiar smooth voice of Dr. Vessar entered the room. She was blurry, like everything else was, but she seemed beautiful, just on her voice alone.

“-ercy, you still with us?”

“Hm?” Percy blinked, seeing that the doctor had gotten closer. Oh. He could almost see her now. He squinted more to try and get a good view of her.

“I was just asking you how everything feels.” Vex resisted chuckling. It hadn’t taken much to realize that the man was blind as a bat without his glasses. They were still broken, and the on site optometrist had had his work cut out for him, and while Victor was good at his job, he wasn’t necessarily a fast worker. Vex shook away thoughts of explosive glasses and turned her attention back to her patient.

“... Cottony, smokey, I think?” She sat down in the chair one more, silently ushering Vax outside while she checked up on her patient. “Torso hurts like a bitch… everything’s blurry.”

“Hopefully Dr. Pulvri can fix that soon, he’s liking the challenge.” Vex chuckled as she jotted those notes down. “As for the torso, not much we can do that we haven’t already, other than meds of course.”

Percy bit his lip as he remembered how he’d wound up there. “You, you saved me.”

“Well that is my job, Mr. Doe.”

Percy blinked at that.

“Pardon?”

Vex seemed to realize it too.

“Oh, right, of course. You know how when someone is admitted without any memory or id or something to the hospital, we call them Jane or John Doe?”

Percy nodded.

“Right, well, we couldn’t really get a last name out of you these past few days. Keyleth could remember part of what you told her when she found you, but that was all we had” She looked down at his wrist. He followed her gaze, seeing ‘Percival Fred Doe’ in small black print on his hospital wristband. It was an odd feeling, seeing his name actually fit on one line for once, even if it wasn’t really his name.

“Ah.”

“You do have a last name, right?”

Percy started to nod, then thought about it. If this went on record, that he’d been brought to the hospital, that he hadn’t just died in the woods with Cassandra, they’d find him, they’d probably burn down the whole building just to finish the job, or even worse, they’d do that, and take him toRipleyandshe’ddothoseterriblethingsandohgodsithurttheykilledthemtheykilledherohgodsithurtssomuchmakeitstop-

“-ercy, Percy, breathe, it’s okay, you’re alright, just breathe, breathe with me, in and out, that’s it.”

Percy did as he was told, recognizing the doctor’s hands on his, and squeezing them without a second thought as the rapid beeping in his ear eventually slowed.

“Percy, talk to me, are you alright?”

Percy took a second to compose himself, and nodded.

“I-I’m fine….. Doe… Doe is fine, please.”

Vex was confused for a moment, and even when she remembered what they’d been talking about, she was still confused, but she let it go. She let go of his hands and picked up her clipboard, underlining the Doe on the medical chart.

“Alright then, Percival Fred Doe it is.”

“Percy.”

She blinked at that, looking back up at him. “Sorry?”

“Please, just, just, please don’t.. don’t make it Percival, y-you can keep calling me Percy, just….”

“Alright then, just Percy it is.” She nodded, scratching out the last few letters. Percy mentally made a note to tell her the rest of his names later, right now, he just wanted to eat, or a drink, gods, he needed a drink.

“I can ask Vax to go get some water, he’s probably right outside anyway.”

Percy nodded a little.

“That sounds lovely, thank you Doctor.”

“... Call me Vex. If we’re doing the whole nickname thing, may as well have it go both ways.”

“...Vex… I like it,” Percy decidedly raspily.

“Well, Percy suits you much more than some stuffy name like that,” Vex assured him.

“Oh you have no idea,” he muttered to himself.

“Hm?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Vex smiled at him and gently patted his hand.

“Well, I’m going to get a nurse to come make sure you’re on everything you need to be on, I’ll be back after my rounds.” She stood and started out the door.

“Vex?” Percy sat up a little. She turned around.

“Yes?”

“... Thank you.”

She smiled a little.

“Don’t mention it.”

* * *

Percy spent the next month in the hospital. It was unpleasant, to say the least, but it was better than Whitestone.

He found out that he’d somehow wound up the next town over. He supposed jumping in the river, then running through the next forest he came to would do that. He was at Emon General hospital. He’d tried to learn more about his surroundings as he stayed.

Vex and Vax brought him books they were finished with. He learned that they were twins, and that their father was an ass. He learned that they had a criminal background, and yet they managed to get here. It was impressive.

He met Scanlan, Pike’s nurse coworker, who usually stayed up in pediatrics, but upon his friend’s tales of the new guy, he’d come to meet Percy. They just barely got along with each other, but enough to get by. Percy somewhat enjoyed the crude humor, and Scanlan enjoyed talking to someone he could swear in front of.

Pike came in to tell him some stories, and occasionally try to get him to talk about things. She had yet to prevail. He’d come to find out that Pike was not only an EMT, but a nurse most of the time, and was filling in for someone else that day, Grog. Percy had met Grog. Grog was big, but ultimately a teddy bear.

He’d come in behind Pike, looking a little shy actually. Percy had been reading at the time, something about an eldritch fae god with purple hair, when he’d heard Pike’s voice in the hall, and another, gruffer voice.

“He’s gonna love you, relax.”

“Are you sure, I mean, like, cause Vex said he was a real smart person and-”

“And so are you, okay?”

“...”

“Okay?”

“...Okay.”

“Good.” He put down his book as the two entered, Grog, a hulking goliath of a man, behind this 5’0 woman was rather amusing, and so Percy gave a small smile.

“Morning Percy.” Pike clambered up on the bed, and Grog took a seat. “This is my brother, Grog, he’s usually the driver for the ambulance, and Vax takes patient duty.”

“Hi.” Grog waved.

“Hello.” Percy gave a small wave in return. There had been a small silence until Pike brought up Avengers, and Grog had just smashed through a conversation, with Pike and Percy occasionally jumping in with their own thoughts, and by the end of that hour, Grog and Percy had agreed that Hulk and Bruce Banner were two different characters, and had disagreed on who was their favorite. Pike like Valkyrie, and they could all agree on her being awesome.

Keyleth had been there, a lot. It was kind of hilarious considering she was the only one of the group who didn’t work for the hospital. All her friends did, and some other ones she’d mentioned before, but as soon as Percy had brought up the idea of her taking part, she’d shaken her head with a giggle.

“Why not?” He’d asked, partially amused. “I mean you have a lovely bedside manner, apparently.”

Keyleth had chuckled, fidgeting with her cube. Percy had vowed to make her new ones as soon as he was out of here and could get some decent tinkering supplies.

“Nah, that’s just cause you’re Percy. Anyone else and I’d… well I don’t know, it wouldn’t go well.”

Percy felt touched by the first statement, and confused by the second.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because a lot of people don’t like me. I’m surprised so many people here do, I’m surprised you do… No, no, I’m not good with people, people aren’t good with me. Plants are easier than people… and cats.”

“Like Minxie?”

“Exactly!” She bounced in her chair at the mention of her pet. “Minxie only has a few moods, humans have lots of settings and mixed emotions and it’s just too much to deal with with just regular people, sick people and hurt people are a whole other level.”

“Mm, well, cheers to that.” He picked up the styrofoam cup on the nightstand, and she held out her water bottle. They drank happily before continuing whatever other conversation came up. Percy had learned a lot about Keyleth in the time she’d stayed with him. She worked in a greenhouse and sold plants. She had a cat named minxie who was white with blue eyes. She was autistic, like himself, and he liked spinner rings and she liked fidget cubes. She wrote things down that made her sad or angry, and wrote them down as truthfully as she could so she could trr and get it across to someone. He’d also learned that she was fine with leaving things unsaid. And that was the best thing anyone could have given him at the time.

Vex, of course, was there most often, what with her being his doctor and all. They’d talked about the books she brought, about world events that were happening, podcasts, university, everything that came up willingly. Keyleth might have become his best friend, but he was pretty sure that she and Vex were tied for that spot.

And so he became part of the group. He slowly was on less and less meds, less bandages consumed him, and he had pajamas to wear instead of a hospital gown now. Dr. Pulvri, Victor, had managed to recreate his old glasses, with a slightly better prescription even, after the first week, and seeing his new friends in high definition had been amazing, as had the familiar weight, and the little rings on the edges. Keyleth had tried them on and greatly approved of the rings. Vex and Pike said he looked handsome. Grog, Scanlan, and Vax had told him he looked like the nerd he truly was. He did not deny either statement.

It was a month and three days after he’d been admitted that he was discharged. Only now, he was faced with a different problem. Where he was going to live. He voiced his concerns to Vex as she helped him fill out paperwork.

She’d given doctor orders that he ‘was gonna see somebody about whatever shit is going on in that brain of yours,’ and had him filling out a form to go see one Dr. Matthew Mercer. Percy was skeptical to say the least, but he couldn’t say no.

So, upon filling out this form, he’d asked her about living situations around town.

“Oh…. was it not, I did ask you, didn’t I?”

He shook his head with a raised eyebrow.

“Ohh, right, well, our little group actually has a house over on greyskull lane, we’ve got an extra bedroom, and I talked it over with the others, and they all agree, you should come stay with us until, you do whatever it is you need to do.”

Percy looked at her for a few seconds, the pen dropped out of his hand, and he hugged her tightly. “Thank you, oh gods, thank you, thank you Vex.”

Vex was startled, then she smiled and hugged back.

“Don’t mention it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: This chapter deals with Percy's trauma with Ripley, it doesn't go into detail or anything, but if you have problems with sexual assault or talking about sex in general, I'd recommend skipping this one.

Percy sat in front of the long haired man. He avoided eye contact as much as possible as he looked around the room. He saw lots of photos, mostly of people he’d never met, but seemed familiar all the same. Some actually were of his friends. Dr. Mercer had five small dragon statues, and countless fidget toys spread across a table.

“-ercy?”

“Hm?” Percy looked up on instinct. He was used to zoning out when people were talking to him, it was more common now than he liked, but he was alright with it happening.

“I was just asking if you could-”

“Here.” Percy pulled out a folded piece of paper. No matter how much he liked to pretend, Percy was not good with talking. He was good at talking, but his relationship with it, well, Ripley had torn it to pieces with his skin. So he’d taken a page out of Keyleth’s book and written everything that seemed like Vex would want him to talk about, had she known any of it.

He handed the paper to Mercer, and focused back on the dragons as the man read it. There were five. Red, white, blue, black, and green. He picked up the green one and inspected it. Little spots of picked at paint jumped out at him, and he put her down. He decided it was a her.

“-cy.”

He didn’t look up this time as Mercer caught his attention again.

“Percy you have to tell someone about this-”

“That’s why I’m here, Vex said I need to-”

“No, no, I mean the police, or something, they can’t just…”

Percy pursed his lips as he heard a sigh.

“Alright, we’ll talk first, about all of this, then we’ll tackle that later. Is that okay?”

“... Do I get to say I don’t want to talk about it?”

“You say Vex told you to come?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think it’s an option then.”

Percy sighed this time and looked up. “What do you want me to say? That, that my entire family was slaughtered because some, some pompous business leeches from Wildemount wanted their, their company? That my sister died trying to save me when I was hardly worth it? That I think I might have been better off dying instead of her, that I would rather have died a thousand deaths so the rest of my family would have lived? That my entire world came crashing down because of greed?That Ripley tortured me for company secrets that I, I obviously wouldn’t know? That she…. She assaulted me? Th-That she… she…” histhoughtsweretoofasthecouldntkeepuphedneversaidthatoutloudbeforeohgodsthisishorriblewhydhecomeherewhywouldvexsaythiswasgoodohgodsohgodsmakeitstopithurts-

“Percy!” Hands were on his shoulders, no, no, this was bad.

“Get away from me!” Percy barely registered falling off the couch, he didn’t realize that he’d ducked and started cowering. “Please, please, I don’t know anything, I can’t tell you, I don’t know, please, please not again, please don’t.” He shoved his hands over his ears. But no blows came, he was able to curl in on himself. When he opened his eyes again, the floor was a carpet, not bloodstained linoleum, and he had shoved himself into a corner. Dr. Mercer sat in front of him, his hand outstretched, a blue stress ball in his hand.

Percy tentatively took the ball and squeezed it, relieved at the pressure. Mercer sat back, a good three feet from Percy.

“Percy… you, definitely did not have to tell me all that, in writing or otherwise, so, that is something to, if not be proud of, at least know that you did it, and that it’s not easy, but you did it.”

“A-And then cowered at the very thought of it, sure.”

“That’s fine, it’s the first time you said it all out loud, that wouldn’t be easy for anyone, by any means. Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay?”

“..Okay.”

  
So they did. Percy told Mercer everything, sometimes in detail, sometimes not. Some days they didn’t even talk about that, they talked about the others, and how life was.

“-she’s kind of amazing.”

“You should tell her that, she does not hear that enough.”

“Agreed.”

They talked about stims, fidget stims, weight stims, anything really.

And of course, he still had to talk about Ripley. They made it a goal that at least one week a month, they would use that day to talk about that, and anything that surrounded it.

It took a long time, but Percy was able to fully realize what she did, and what it did to him, what it didn’t change about him. By the time four months had gone by, he could think of her without immediately going into a panic attack.

Vex helped. They all did really. Keyleth helped him make things when he needed a distraction, Scanlan would teach him some new video game, Grog had a punching bag if Percy was feeling especially angry that day, Vax offered to spar occasionally, and though Percy rarely took him up on the offer, it was always there, which was nice. Pike showed him how to bake, which was like tinkering, but with food, it was nice. And Vex, well, Vex would just help him find new ways to live. Taking him for walks with trinket to the park, going on their own walks, introducing him to movies and TV shows. They all also discovered dungeons and dragons, and quickly learned how to play.

Percy had made another family without realizing it, and now, he was almost happy.

It all came to a climax when he finally, after much prodding from the others, managed to ask Vex out, and she’d said yes.

They dated for four months until she proposed the idea of sex.

He almost threw up.

And so now he sat with Vex on her bed, hoodie zipped up, hands in his pockets, and her beside him.

“Darling, I have no problem with this if you don’t want to have sex, I honestly don’t, but if it’s something hurting you, I need to know if I can help with that.”

Percy bit his lip and shook his head.

“No, no, this….” Okay, he could do this, he could say it, he’d practiced with Matt.

“Ripley… She assaulted me, before. I-I’m sorry just… I hated it, I hated it so much, even before she did anything I never wanted to, I knew it wasn’t for me and she…. She quite literally forced it on me and… it only turned it from distaste to fear. I don’t want to have sex, ever…. I-I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Percy… you don’t need to be sorry for anything.” Vex held his hand tightly before pulling him into a hug.

“Neither do you.” He looked at her. “I just-”

“It’s fine, you know what, I put on the whole flirtatious game because flirting is fun for me-”

“I don’t mind the flirting, at all-”

“But if anything, I thought this was something you wanted.”

Percy shook his head.

“Please, I-I can’t.”

“It’s okay, that’s completely fine, I will never, ever make you do anything you don’t want to if it’s going to hurt you.” Vex kissed his cheek. Percy smiled a little.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

“You didn’t need to do anything, darling.” Vex pulled back, and laid against the pillows, shuffling under the covers. “So then, Disney night, or Dreamworks?”

Percy smiled and crawled under the covers with her, laying his head on hers as they watched How to Train your Dragon.

“I love you Vex’halia.”

“I love you too Percy.”

“... You can call me Percival, if you want…..Percival Fredrickstein von Mussel Klossowski de Rolo the third.”


	4. Epilogue

Two years later, they went to Whitestone and took it back. He found Cassandra alive. He met Scanlan’s daughter, and he met so many others. The Briarwoods were found guilty, and his new family moved into Whitestone castle.

The year after that, Anna Ripley was found guilty, and Percy was on meds, still talking to Mercer.

Six years after he’d met his new family, and had come home, and had battled his demons, he was still on meds, still talking to Mercer, but the family had grown.

He’d somehow convinced himself that he deserved Vex. She had to tell him several times over dates, and movies, and car trips. And after a few years of dating, they got married. And so had Vax and Keyleth, and Pike and Scanlan. They’d gone to Zadash and adopted some kids. Vex and Percy had met a lovely, if not abrasive girl named Beau, and a very quiet boy name Caleb. Vax and Keyleth had met a very colourful child named Molly, and his tall gentle giant friend named Yasha. They’d met Fjord and Jester when they came over for playdates, and Nott when she showed up at the door, looking for her little brother. They’d met Cadeuces when Grog had found the calm child wandering the woods. They were a weird pair, but they made it work.

It had taken a long time for Percy to be happy, but now, he was certain of it.

He had a family, the greatest one anyone could ever know.

Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski was many things. A father, a husband, a brother, an engineer, an inventor, broken, traumatized, asexual, autistic, blunt, kind, and the list went on.

And now, he was happy.


End file.
